arduinoboy #1

Today i started to build my first Arduinoboy. The Arduinoboy is a device to sync a Gameboy with any Midi Device connected to it. It can be used with LSDJ,Nanoloop,mGB etc. This one will be an external device in a nice small case.

It can be powered via USB, 9V Block or 4x AA Batteries. There will be a battery slot on the bottom.
The first tests were fine, the LEDs flashed according to the BPM that i ran through it via Cubase.
The push button and mode selection is working fine. The case i use is 120x60x35mm (absolute minimum - cant be any smaller using the mega and batteries etc.)

The Arduinoboy is connected to an Arduino Mega 1280. You dont have to use a pretty expensive Mega 1280 to run Arduinoboy (most of the Arduinos work with it). I just had a spare one lying around.

I will also work on a DMG internal Arduinoboy with a Arduino Pro Mini, but its always nice to have both worlds (internal and external) to choose from :)

Get the Arduinoboy source code here: http://code.google.com/p/arduinoboy/
Here is the easy to understand schematic: http://trash80.com/arduinoboy/arduinoboy_schematic_1_1_0.png

You can find Arduino's on Ebay, just grab an Arduino Nano, Pro Mini, Duemillanove, Mega or similar and you are ready to go. If you dont want to use a shield you can simply use a breadboard pcb like i did and wire everything up.

Stay tuned for the finished case.

small black case first test

first testrun working fine